“I think people deserve to have their secrets.”

This is a book about the complexity of families. It has two timelines: present day and the late 70s in Syria and Lebanon. The present day timeline is strewn throughout the world – California, Texas, New York, and Beirut – just like the family about which this story is told.

Alyan allows this journey to beautifully unfold. It took me a while to see where she was going and I considered abandoning the book, but she hooked me about halfway through and I had to travel with the Nasrs back to their family home in Beirut and learn all their painful secrets.

This family is funny. I laughed out loud at their antics and the way they communicated with each other – the writing made it feel so real. They’re also quite tragic, like most of us, and I was tearing up near the end. Our lives are complicated and almost never as they appear, aren’t they?

A fun coincidence with this book: it alludes to A Streetcar Named Desire quite often, which I recently read. The allusion crystalizes about halfway through and it would have totally gone over my head if I’d never read Streetcar. I love it when it feels like the author and I are sharing secrets – it makes for a rich reading experience.